Felis Onca
by Alley-Walk
Summary: Thanks to the beansprout's innate stubbornness, Alma Karma lived the day they were resurrected, and were taken into the Order's perfectly hospitable custody. Meanwhile the Black Order has heard rumors of a "healing Oasis" that could make or break the war, and have sent four Exorcists to check it out.


Author: Alley_Walk

Rating: Teen and Up

Pairings: Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu/Alma Karma/Allen Walker, Lavi/Lenalee Lee, Bak Chan/Komui Lee

Tags: Non-binary Alma Karma, Platonic Romance, OCs, Magical Healing, and Will 'o Wisps.

AU after Alma Karma arc, trigger warnings for blood, violence, gore, and dismemberment.

Hey, y'all! Been awhile since I've posted on anything except Ao3. First, I'd like to emphasize that while there are OCs in this fic, they in no way take over the story and there are, in fact, multiple POVs.

As for the AU, Allen and Kanda were in a sort-of relationship at the time of Alma's resurrection, meaning that Kanda listened to him and Alma lived, and the 14th was not preemptively awakened, and when he did he was significantly weak and Allen was able to fight him off. Lavi and Bookman were never captured, mostly due to the fallout of the failed awakening of the 14th.

Everyone got it? Good? Good.

Enjoy! ^_^

**night one • up in smoke**

.

Allen, Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda all walk into Komui's office for their briefing on their new mission only to find Komui slumped over asleep on his desk, drooling on a half-finished doodle of a bunny rabbit. Lenalee, incensed, slams the door loudly behind her. Komui twitches, but does not wake. Allen rolls his eyes fondly and walks over to Komui, leaning down to whisper the usual wake up call in his ear. In a stint of mischievousness, however, he whispers, "_Lavi and Lenalee are getting eloped."_

Komui wakes up like a shot, jolting to his feet while somehow having a giant gun in his hands. Murder is in his eyes as he points it at Lavi, and Lavi yelps and dives behind the couch just as Komui pulls the trigger, firing off a ray of bright blue light that burns a hole right through the back of the couch. Allen dives for Komui and wrestles the gun from his hands, Komui ineffectually slapping at his face as Allen breaks it in half over his knee.

Komui pouts at him and then blinks, seeming to take in the room and the damage he'd done for the first time. Komui coughs into his fist. "Ahem. I'm sorry Lavi, I've been a little overworked lately. What… were you all here for again?" He asks, rubbing at his face as he slumps with tiredness.

"The mission briefing." Kanda says, with his arms crossed over his chest.

Komui nods. "Right, right. Do you mind if I get some coffee first? I'm really not awake enough for this."

Lavi peeks his face through the smoking hole that had been blasted through the couch. "Anything that means no more flaming deathrays is fine with me."

After everyone had been seated and Komui had drank nearly half of the coffee pot and was now nearly buzzing with energy, (much to Lenalee's disapproval), Komui begins.

"There are rumors of a healing Oasis inside a cave near Naples, Italy. These rumors go back several decades with claims of people taking some of the healing water from the Oasis, and there is evidence that seems to support this claim." Komui passes out four pamphlets and Allen scans it over, frowning at what he sees.

"Miraculous recoveries overnight? Claims of a 'colossal jaguar guarding the Oasis and causing death and destruction nearby'?" Kanda asks incredulously.

"And that's where the difficult part comes in," Komui explains. "The most likely scenario is that the jaguar is an Akuma, either unwilling or unable to get to the Innocence and so is guarding it from both parties."

Lavi perks up. "'Both parties'?"

"Well, considering Marian's tendency to have his fingers in too many pies, it's impossible to know if he knew about this or not. And considering he's MIA at the moment, we can't possibly ask him if he's having one of his modified Akuma guarding the Oasis or not." Komui explains.

"Which is why you're sending four of us," Lavi realizes, "strength in numbers and all that."

"That makes sense." Lenalee says with a nod.

Kanda snorts. "I doubt it's one of Cross's if it's killing people."

Komui nods. "It's possible that there are other Akuma in the area, and that the deaths are just collateral for protecting the Oasis. If it's bloodlust had gotten too high…"

Allen scowls, crossing his arms over his chest. Kanda puts a supporting hand on his knee, squeezing gently. Allen takes a deep breath, and lets it go for now.

"When do we leave?" Allen asks curtly.

"As soon as you can, if possible." Komui says, looking at Allen apologetically.

Allen nods to him, smiling to show that it wasn't his fault, and gets to his feet with the others. He takes Kanda's hand, entwining his fingers with his. "Do you want to go visit Alma?" Allen asks him after the door closes behind them.

Kanda frowns, and then gives a short nod.

Lenalee glances at them and shoots them a mischievous smile. "Have fun!" She chirps, and Lavi laughs, and they both go racing down the hallway to avoid Kanda's wrath.

.

Link meets them outside Komui's office and immediately starts fussing over Allen like the mother-hen he secretly is. Kanda would be sick to death of it by now if he didn't know that Allen was a fucking nutcase when it came to his own personal health and that if it wasn't about food or looking presentable he wouldn't even bother. Now that Link was less of a watchdog and more Leverrier making himself feel important, Kanda could see that throughout his time with Allen Link had been thoroughly compromised by the beansprout.

The little shit.

But then, Kanda had stopped hating (fallen in love with) the beansprout so damn much, and he had been the person who had convinced him not to kill Alma in the end.

"Are you sleeping enough?" Link asks, a furrow in his brow.

"Yes, Link." Allen says, amused.

"Here, take these." Link says, and the aroma of steamed buns fills the air as Link takes out the paper bag from one of his storage seals. "It's going to be a long journey," Link says, though he looks amused as he watches Allen's mouth water.

"Link, I love you, please be my sugar daddy." Allen says around a mouthful of steamed bun.

Link snorts and shakes his head as they stop outside Alma's door. "I'll leave you here for now." He says, nodding to CROW guarding the door, and Kanda and Allen enter the room.

Alma, who had been lying on their stomach on the bed and reading a book like a listless fuck, immediately perks up at the sight of them both, their devil's tail waving happily in the air as they leap off of the bed and give Allen a hug, reaching for Kanda and doing the same with Kanda reluctantly returning it.

They talk about random shit for awhile, going over useless gossip before finally getting down to business.

Allen, who has been carding his fingers through Alma's hair while they lay with their head pillowed on top of his chest, says, "so we're going on another mission."

Alma tenses slightly, and they turn blue eyes up to Allen, Kanda on the other side of the bed with one arm splayed over Allen, and asks with a thread of worry in their voice, "you and Kanda, you mean?"

It was true that Allen and Kanda were often sent on missions with Link now that they weren't bickering 24/7, and in the end made a team to be reckoned with in any fight.

"No. All four of us." Kanda says, making Alma deflate further.

Kanda thinks it must be lonely for Alma, locked up like a rabid dog and put under guard at all times. It infuriates Kanda, but he can't do a damn thing about it. He'd like to think that if he got Alma out of the Order's clutches they'd be free to go and do whatever they wanted, but Kanda knows that that would lead to them landing right back in the hands of the Earl. The Order is no better, to be honest, especially with their suspicions of the Earl using Alma as his eyes and ears around the Order getting them locked up in the first place.

But at least they're alive.

That's fucking something, at least.

"Oh. Okay." Alma says quietly.

"It shouldn't be that dangerous," Allen reassures. "There's only one Akuma that we know of in the area."

"Not to mention the 'magical Oasis' or whatever the fuck," Kanda chips in.

Alma looks contemplative, and then they smile. "Well stay safe, you two!"

They say their goodbyes, and then the two Exorcists go off to start making preparations.

.

Isoke pounces, pinning her prey against the grass. They wriggle in her grasp and she strikes as quick as a snake, biting down on her prey, only to spit them out a moment later, thoroughly disgusted. The Will 'o Wisp shakes themselves off, pushing off with their glowing tendrils to float up into the air, cursing at her in their own musical language.

Isoke flicks her tail irritably. "Oh, please. You should just be glad that you don't have any meat on you." She says contemptuously.

The Will 'o Wisp puffs up with indignation, slapping her across the snout with a glowing tendril of light. Before she can get properly angry, however, they settle on her head for the briefest of moments, a spot of warmth and forgiveness on her brow, before they float up and away.

Isoke lets out a puff of breath, bored once again. To a being unused to her surroundings, she supposed they would not be as bored as she. Her surroundings were, in fact, quite fantastical.

The cave is vast and endless around her, the ceiling reaching far above even her rather large head with runes and depictions of the sun and moon carved into the rock, circular openings in the ceiling letting the light of the moon shine down from above. But it is not so much a cave as an _idea_ of a cave, the boundless space around her never appearing to have any walls that she could find other than the entrance to the cave itself.

Multitudes of fantastical biomes live inside this cave, but Isoke doesn't care to venture from her main objective for long. Surrounding her as of now is a grove of humongous trees with large, twisting branches blooming glowing luminescent vines that twist and hang down to the forest floor. The Will 'o Wisps live here in their own little clan. Isoke doesn't particularly care, but the branches are big enough for her to climb, and watching the comings and goings of the Will 'o Wisps' lives is at least something to do.

Not to mention that hunting them can be particularly enjoyable.

Past the forest was a rocky streambed, where small fish darted in the cool clear depths of the water, teasing Isoke, who has never had an adept paw for catching them, much to her frustration. The water is refreshing, at least, and beside the streambed is Isoke's nest. She'd made it out of moss and featherdown, until she was satisfied that is was as soft as it was going to be.

Small glowing green mushrooms begin to dot the grass, as the grass turns to large moss covered rocks underneath her paws. The mushrooms grow substantially larger, some taller than Isoke herself, who is quite big compared to most jaguars. The mushrooms form an alcove with a waterfall flowing through the center, directly into an otherwise calm pool of water. The water seems to glitter with a soft green light, where before it had practically glowed.

Before Isoke came, that is.

(And how she wishes she hadn't).

But she has a task, and she must fulfil it. Protecting the waters for human hands who would exploit them has been her purpose ever since she became more than what she had been as a cub.

(As a kit).

Her ears prick as she picks up the sound of noise near the entrance of the cave. Pawsteps. No. _Footsteps._

Humans.

The entrance is right behind the mushrooms, the path leading towards the trees, so Isoke slinks down to her haunches, watching them. There are four humans, three males and one female. The female has dark fur on her head that goes down to her shoulders, and eyes the color of geraniums. One of the males has spiky fur on his head the color of poppies and an eye the color of summer leaves. Another male has a long dark furred tail attached to his head, which confuses Isoke, but then she's never cared to understand humans. The Tailed One has eyes the color or anemone flowers and a bladed human weapon at his hip. The last has neck length fur that's as white as the clouds and eyes the color of periwinkles, with a strange scar on his face and a crow perched on his shoulder.

"It's beautiful," Geranium Eyes whispers in a hushed voice.

"Yeah, but where are the walls?" Poppy Fur asks, quite logically in Isoke's opinion.

"I don't know, but…" Clouded Periwinkle trails off. "Does this place feel strange to you?"

"In what way?" Poppy Fur asks.

Isoke angles herself sideways and further towards the Oasis, letting the mushrooms shield her as the humans walk past them down the path, towards the forest. She crouches down on her haunches. She has to do this just right. She will allow no failures on her part.

"Like Innocence," The Tailed One says.

As they enter the forest, looking around themselves with something like awe, all except The Tailed One that is who seems remarkably unimpressed, Isoke sneaks up behind them, her belly low to the ground. "And just what would you _humans_ be doing in my den?" Isoke purrs, her tone sharp and deadly.

They all spin around to look up at her in horror, and then The Tailed One is drawing his weapon, Geranium Eyes doing the same as boots materialize on her calves. Poppy Fur glances at Clouded Periwinkle, however, and his eyes widen, his paw flying to his scarred eye. "Kanda, Lenalee, wait-!"

Pain scorches deep into Isoke's breast, her head jerking as a powerful kick sends agony throughout her face. Her pain dulls with her rage, and Isoke screams out her fury as the forest comes to life around her.

.

Lavi is a simple guy with a perfectly overcomplicated life. He's a Bookman. He's meant to record things, and stay impartial, while also trying not to fall in love with Lenalee and the other people of the Black Order any more than he already has.

Alright, so maybe he isn't so simple a guy as he likes to think.

The point is that magical forests coming to life around him were not _in any way_ logical, and he had a perfect right to be freaking out about it. Lavi's brain works on logic; logic makes sense, logic never fails him. So why is it that the glowing magical vines are grabbing him like he was the world's best buffet, wrapping themselves around him and attempting to squeeze him like a glow in the dark boa constrictor? Luckily Lavi's hammer is in hand, and he quickly stamps a fire seal into the ground, the fire snake burning the vines away as well as blistering some of Lavi's skin in the process.

Oh well. Needs must.

Kanda and Lenalee seem to be handling the colossal black jaguar with little success, Kanda forced to take the brunt of most of her attacks as the only one with spectacular super healing. Allen is being harrassed by those weird floating tentacle things, their multicolored lights glowing as they drift around him, his legs bound by the roots of a tree. Lavi strides over. As much as he wants to help Lenalee and Kanda right now, he won't be much use without backup.

When he gets closer, ducking and dodging as he goes, he realizes that not only is Allen not being attacked, he seems to be talking to the wisps of light. "I'm sorry, I don't understand you…"

The wisp he had been talking to, a glowing teal one that floats in front of him, flickers it's light twice, and then three times, a bell-like chime emanating from it, the sound oddly pleading. The sound is echoed by all of the other wisps gathered around him, and Allen frowns, Link cocking his head from his place perched on Allen's shoulder. "You want me to do something?"

The teal wisp peals another bell, and this one is deeper, more ominous, and oddly protective. Allen nods, as if this explains everything. "I'll do what I can." He promises, and the wisps disperse, hovering above, watching, waiting. The roots wrapped around Allen's legs untangle, much to Lavi's relief.

Lavi finally approaches, asking, "hey Al, what was that all about?"

Allen scratches at his cheek nervously. "I was going to tell Kanda and Lenalee to stop fighting, but then those wisps cornered me."

"Because of your eye?" Lavi asks.

"Yes," Allen says, turning to run in the direction of Kanda and Lenalee's fight with the giant jaguar. Link wings himself into the air, flying ahead. "I don't think that she's an Akuma. I don't know what else she could be but…"

Lavi pants, his lungs burning in his chest as the cogs begin to whirl inside his head. If the jaguar wasn't an Akuma, then the only other explanation was…

"Innocence."

.

Several things happened in quick succession upon the two's arrival to the fight.

It was mostly Allen's fault, to be honest.

"You guys, stop, she's not an Akuma!" Allen yells.

Lenalee pauses in midair, Kanda taking a step back. Allen stops in front of the jaguar, looking up at her and her miraide of wounds. "Are you-?" He screams suddenly as pain rips through his right shoulder, tearing flesh and breaking bone as a horrible feeling of separation comes over him. His right arm is hanging limply from in between the jaguar's jaws, bitten off at the shoulder. There's a meaty chewing sound as she chews and swallows, licking her lips of his blood.

And Allen finds that he's on the ground, his ears ringing as blood pours down his side. Kanda is holding him, staunching the bleeding with his Exorcist's coat, and Allen wants to laugh at the irony. Lavi and Lenalee stand in front of him, fierce and deadly.

Allen needs to stop this.

He needs to…

"Oh." He says, surprised. The wisps have landed on him, resting their soft weight on his head and shoulders, their lights glowing softly. Ciano, the teal wisp resting on his left shoulder, rings an admonishment.

The black jaguar's green eyes sharpen with mistrust, but her ears flatten, and then she picks Allen up by the back of his uniform, carrying him with great bounds across the forest until they stop at a large pool of water. Allen can hear his friend's alarmed yells as they try to catch up, but Allen is more concerned with the pool of water in front of him. His head is swimming from the blood loss, and as she sets him down he nearly faceplants into it. The female jaguar huffs discontentedly. "Drink. You will feel better afterwards."

Allen feels too tired to question the big cat's words. Everything is starting to blur together around him, so he drinks. It tastes good. Better than good. It tastes like the best thing he's ever tasted, even better than mitarashi dango. Soothing warmth is running through his veins, and he can feel something growing, stretching, but oddly it doesn't hurt. He's pulled back by the scruff of his uniform when the growing is done, and Allen comes back to himself to look down at his new arm.

It looks as good as new. Better than new, even. All of the old breaks that hadn't been set properly when he was younger have been realigned, and the scars that were once there are now gone.

The black jaguar sets him a few yards away from the pool, sitting with her head down a bit between him and it. Allen sits cross legged where she left him, and says, "Thank you. I know you didn't have to do that."

The jaguar's tail flicks irritably. "You should thank the Will 'o Wisps, not me. I would much rather have eaten you."

There's a teasing ring of a bell nearby, and Allen looks back to see Ciano, its tendrils swelling through the air before billowing outwards, propelling it forwards while it leads Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee to them. Link lands with a flap of his wings on Allen's knee, looking him over with worried brown eyes.

"You okay, 'sprout?" Lavi asks, falling to his knees next to him while Kanda eyes the jaguar suspiciously. Lavi's eyes widen. "Woah. Your arm…" Lavi reaches out to touch it but Allen slaps his hand away, irritated.

Lavi grins. "The science guys are gonna run _soo_ many tests on you when we get back."

Allen groans. He was already dreading it.

Lenalee is standing around, not sure what to say, and Kanda is still suspicious of the black jaguar, so Allen decides to make introductions. "What's your name? My name's Allen, and this is Lenalee, Lavi, Kanda and Link."

The jaguar is quiet for a second. Then she says, "Isoke." She looks up at them, and Allen suddenly notices the Innocence green of her eyes, the darker green rosettes on her shoulders and hind. "I think you should go."

"But-"

"_Leave!"_ She screams, the ground shaking underneath their feet.

They make a run for it. Nothing attacks them on their way out, but Allen has a sense, a feeling, that this is far from over.

.

Tyki, Wisely and Lulubell are sitting across from the Earl in the sitting area, Wisely reading another one of his psychology books and Lulubell curled up as a cat beside her master, Tyki enjoying the delightfully crumbly croissants on his plate. Adam looks up from his horrendously over sugared cup of tea with triumph on his face.

"Pack your bags, Tyki, Wisely."

Tyki looks up, his mouth full of croissant. "Mmmf?"

Wisely raises his eyebrow. "On rumor alone?"

Adam smiles widely, teeth glinting in the light of the chandeliers overhead. "Oh, my children, if this is what I think it is, then we may have just found our key to winning this war."


End file.
